Policy Paper 2019

The School-Plus-Home Gardens Project

in the Philippines: A Participatory
and Inclusive Model for Sustainable Development
Blesilda M. Calub1, Leila S. Africa2, Bessie M. Burgos3, Henry M. Custodio3, Shun-Nan Chiang4,
Anna Gale C. Vallez5, Elson Ian Nyl E. Galang6, and Maria Katrina R. Punto3

School gardening has been increasingly popular in the past decade both in developed and developing countries. However, most
school gardening projects focus on educational goals and aim to increase school children’s knowledge of food systems and their
acceptance of vegetable consumption. The School-Plus-Home Gardens Project (S+HGP), a collaboration among the Southeast
Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA), the University of the Philippines Los Baños
(UPLB), and the Department of Education (DepEd) of the Philippines, district of Laguna, revived and redesigned DepEd’s
earlier school garden programs to an innovative approach focusing on nutrition, education, and economic well-being of school
children, their families, and their communities. The S+HGP was piloted in six schools in the province of Laguna, Philippines with
a model where harvests from the school gardens provided fresh vegetables for the school-based feeding program. The model
also extended the gardening-feeding linkage to the establishment of food gardens in school children’s homes. More than just
establishing home gardens, the parents developed a greater sense of responsibility to ensure good nutrition for their children,
while also saving on food expenses. It highlighted the multi-functionality of school gardens as learning laboratories for educating
pupils, teachers, and parents about sustainability concepts and interconnections of food and nutrition, organic agriculture, edible
landscaping, climate change, and solid waste management. Key project outcomes are discussed according to five categories,
namely, socio-cultural, technical, economic/financial, environmental, and policy-institutional aspects. Mechanisms for sustaining
and scaling up the initial success of the S+HGP were designed in a stepwise process, where the pilot schools took the lead to pay
forward and share their knowledge with other schools, particularly, small schools in remote areas through intra-school and inter-
district networking. From the six original pilot schools in 2016, there are now two additional adopted schools, 23 sister schools,7
and three brother schools.8
 Introduction
Proper nutrition plays a vital role in the overall growth
and development of school children, especially in
enhancing their academic performance. Nutrition is a
function of children’s dietary habits and the kind of food
they eat. However, many families, particularly in rural
areas, do not have access to nutritious food, which leads
to malnutrition among school children. According to the
World Declaration on Education for All, poor health and
nutrition result to low school enrollment, absenteeism,
poor academic performance, and early school dropouts.
Based on a 2013 survey of the Food and Nutrition
Research Institute of the Philippines, among 5-to 10-year
old children, 29 percent are classified as underweight,
while 30 percent are stunted. The learning and academic
performance of these school-aged children are thus
compromised.
School gardening has been increasingly popular in the
past decade both in developed (Ohly et al. 2016) and
developing countries (Schreinemachers et al. 2017).
However, most aimed to increase school children’s
knowledge of food systems and in improving their
consumption of vegetables. Meanwhile, development
agencies used school feeding programs as an important
intervention to alleviate malnutrition for school children
in developing countries (Alderman and Bundy 2012).
Recently, UNICEF (United Nations Children’s Fund)
and WPF (World Food Programme) began to promote
home-grown school feeding program to connect school
feeding program with locally-grown produce
(Sumberg and Sabates-Wheeler 2011).
To further address undernutrition and short-term hunger,
DepEd Memo No. 51 series of 2016 directed the Bureau
of Learner Support Services (SHD-BLSS) to cover about
0.53 million severely wasted (SW) and 1.38 million wasted
(W) pupils from Kindergarten to Grade 6. The main
goals were to: (1) improve the nutritional status of the
beneficiaries by at least 70 percent at the end of the 120-
day feeding period; (2) increase classroom attendance by
85 percent; and (3) improve children’s health, nutritional
status, and behavior. This DepEd memo also mandated
that “all schools shall establish and maintain the GPP as
a source of ingredients for the SBFP and shall encourage
home gardens.” Hence, the link between the school
gardening and school feeding program was formalized.
However, the 2013–2014 impact study by the Philippine
Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) showed that
among severely wasted children, about 62 percent versus
the 70 percent target attained normal nutritional status
at the end of the feeding program. Disturbingly, of the
undernourished children who gained normal status after
the 120-day feeding period, about half would revert back
to wasted or severely wasted status (PIDS 2015; Tabunda
et al. 2016) due to inadequate and less nutritious food
in their homes for the remaining 245 days of the year.

Since the 1970s, the Philippine government has been

promoting vegetable gardening among elementary and
high school students as part of the education curriculum
(Salita 2002; Bauzon 2009; Inocian and Nuneza 2015).
In 2010, DepEd coordinated with the Department of
Agriculture (DA) in promoting the “Gulayan sa Paaralan
Program (GPP)” (Vegetable Gardens in Schools) to address
malnutrition and promote vegetable production and
consumption among pupils (DepEd 2007). DepEd, since
1997, implemented the School-based Feeding Program
(SBFP) initially to address short-term hunger among
elementary pupils but later refocused on addressing under-
nutrition (DepEd Memo No. 191 series of 2013).

1 Agricultural Systems Institute, University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB)

2 Institute of Human Nutrition and Food, UPLB
3 SEARCA
4 Department of Sociology, University of California Santa Cruz
5 School of Environmental Science and Management, UPLB
6 United Nations University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability, Tokyo, Japan
7 schools recruited by the original pilot schools and the adopted schools
8 schools recruited by the sister schools

2
With this backdrop, SEARCA, in collaboration with
UPLB and the DepEd Division of Laguna implemented
the project “A Participatory Action Research on School-
and Community-Based Food and Nutrition Program
for Literacy, Poverty Reduction, and Sustainable
Development” or the “School and Home Gardens
Project” (SHGP). The Project was funded by SEARCA
with some financial support from the Asian Development
Bank-Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction through the
SEAMEO College. The overall goal of SHGP was to
improve the nutritional status and dietary habits of
school-aged children by increased and year-round
production of locally-adopted vegetables through school
and home gardening. The specific objectives were:
(1)increase diversity and availability of food to meet the
nutritional needs of children; (2) increase knowledge
and improve skills of students and teachers on food
production and nutrition; and (3) reduce food expenses,
create savings, and provide an alternative source of
income for families to alleviate poverty.
While initially this project was called the School and
Home Gardens Project, later it was called the School-
Plus-Home Gardens Project (S+HGP). The S+HGP
deliberately emphasized plus home gardens to draw
attention to the plus factors that significantly contributed
to the key outcomes of the project. Plus refers to:
(1) promoting year-round production of nutritious food
from both the school and home gardens; (2) mobilizing
parents and developing in them a greater sense of
responsibility for the nutrition of their children by helping
tend the school gardens and building their own home
gardens; (3) local government units (LGUs) allocating
funds, providing capacity building initiatives and services
to maintain the school gardens or helping parents
establish home gardens; (4) multiple function of the
school gardens as source of supplemental food, nutrition,
and income, as learning gardens and as inspirational
pocket landscapes; and (5) stimulating children’s
interest in agriculture.
This policy paper promotes a model for connecting
the school garden project and school-based feeding
program, plus extending the garden-feeding linkage
in the school to the establishment of home gardening-
feeding linkage to promote greater parent and com-
munity involvement in sustaining proper nutrition
for children.
Methodology
Through a Project Management Team from SEARCA,
UPLB, and DepEd Laguna, the S+HGP was piloted
in five elementary public schools (Grade 4) in each of
the municipalities of Alaminos, Cabuyao, Majayjay,
Nagcarlan, Pila, and one secondary school (Grade 7)
in Santa Cruz, Laguna, Philippines. The pilot schools
were identified based on: (1) the school’s willingness
to participate; (2) prevalence of nutritionally deficient
pupils; and (3) availability of garden space and water
source. Interviews, mini surveys, and site validation
were conducted to establish the profile of the pilot
schools’ student demographics and nutritional
status, the existing school gardens’ condition, and
the undernourished pupil’s household socioeconomic
characteristics. Baseline and endline studies were
conducted to assess pupils’ changes in their nutritional
status, dietary habits and their knowledge, attitudes,
and practices (KAP) in terms of vegetables and food
nutrients. Focused group discussions and participatory
methods were used to monitor progress and document
changes in the involvement of the pilot schools, LGUs,
parents, and DepEd units.
3
 Various seminars, training courses, workshops, cooking contests, school garden visits, consultations, joint action
planning, participatory management, and other capacity building activities were conducted for the school heads,
teachers, partner LGUs, and representatives of Parent-Teacher Association (PTAs). Specific sessions for school heads
and teachers included lesson plan writing to integrate sustainable food system concepts in the school curriculum
in Science, Math, English, and Home Economics, while using the school gardens as living laboratories. Training
of Teacher Trainers and Joint Action Planning to develop sustainability and scaling-up strategies were conducted
to prepare and strengthen the schools’ capability, with DepEd facilitation, to carry on confidently the S+HGP even
after exit of the SEARCA-UPLB project support. A model for inclusive intra-municipality scaling up and inter-district
scaling up within the province was shared with the teachers as part of the project exit strategy.

Conceptual Framework

The participatory action research on school- and community-based food and nutrition is an integrated approach to
improving nutrition, education, and economic well-being of school children by establishing school and home gardens.
With the participation of the various stakeholders, the approach is envisioned to contribute directly to improved food
and nutrition security and indirectly to national programs such as the National Greening Program, Climate Change
Adaptation and Mitigation, Solid Waste Management, and Organic Agriculture (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Conceptual framework of the project

Operational Framework

The operational framework (Figure 2) of the S+HGP focused on strengthening the complementation between DepEd’s
existing school-based feeding for undernourished children and Gulayan sa Paaralan programs. However, these two
DepEd programs aim to provide food for only 120 days. Thus, the S+HGP aimed to make parents aware of their
responsibility to do their share of ensuring good nutrition for their children. Parents realized how home gardens can
help them produce nutritious food year-round. Consequently, parents got more involved in building their own home
gardens and helped maintain the school gardens as well.

4
 Figure 2. Operational framework of the School-plus-home Gardens Project
, and Well-Educated Children
Well-nourished, Healthy,
Gulayan
sa Paaralan
Program
The role of the LGUs, specifically the Municipal
Agriculture Office (MAO), the Municipal Nutrition
Action Office (MNAO), the Municipal Social Welfare
and Development Office (MSWDO), and Municipal/
City Nutrition Council and Local School Board were
critical in providing inputs, services, and funds. Through
participatory development approaches and synergism,
the commitment and participation of all concerned
stakeholders can be harnessed to achieve the primary
goal of ensuring the nutrition, health, and education
of undernourished children.
Project Outcomes
The project outcomes primarily focused on benefits to
nutrition, education, and economic well-being of school
children, which are discussed here according to five
categories, namely, socio-cultural, technical, economic/
financial, environmental, and policy-institutional
aspects.
Socio-cultural Aspects
The emphasis on the plus in the S+HGP went beyond
merely building gardens in children’s homes but
resulted in having parents conscientiously taking on the
challenge and getting more involved in the nutrition
of their children. Several pilot school principals and
teachers said that today, many parents take pride
of their home gardens and even volunteered in the
maintenance of the school garden, which is the
complete opposite of their attitude before.
Initial data from 45 household respondents showed
that 33 percent have existing small home gardens, 16
percent used to have, and 51 percent or 23 respondents
never had a home garden. Of these 23 respondents,
20 were interested to have home gardens because it is
a convenient source of food for the family, it ensures
clean source of food, it can provide income, and their
family members like to eat vegetables. The remaining
three respondents said they have no available space,
were preoccupied with work, were more interested
in raising pigs, or were simply not interested. As the
pilot school gardens blossomed, more parents became
more aware and participative in the school gardening,
cooking, and feeding activities for their children.
The cooking contest participated in by parent-child
tandems, which required using vegetables harvested
from the school gardens, resulted in greater awareness
and creativity in preparing vegetable-based food.
5
 From this contest, a cook book with 30 original recipes
from the contestants was compiled for distribution to
other schools and parents.

There were significant increases in height, weight,

and Body Mass Index (BMI), translating to 33 percent
rehabilitation rate from wasted to normal nutritional
status among the pilot elementary schools and 44
percent rehabilitation rate in the secondary school
(SEARCA 2017). Pupils showed improved knowledge
in naming vegetables and classifying food items
according to food groups and nutrients. They also
improved their attitudes on the benefits of eating
vegetables. In terms of practices, there was an increase
from 49 to 55 percent in the proportion of students
who ate vegetables. However, there were students who
said that they do not eat vegetables as often because
it is rarely served in their homes.

The pupils liked working together in the garden, were

proud of the harvests and fruits of their labor, and they
enjoyed eating what they planted. They like to spend
free time in the beautifully landscaped edible gardens.
This exposure created a positive regard for gardening
and agriculture among students that they even told their
teachers that they want to study agriculture in college.

Teachers from the six pilot schools maintained close

coordination, progress updates, and information
exchange with the project team and among themselves
through social media. Other schools from other
provinces and regions have learned about and visited
the pilot schools’ gardens, thus, developing a kind
of agri-eco tourism initiative. While the pilot school
teachers initially regarded the S+HGP as added
burden to their already tight work load, by mid-
term implementation, they realized a renewed sense
of commitment, pride, and confidence as they are
recognized as benchmark for other schools. Labuin
Elementary School in Pila town, awarded by the S+HGP
as the most outstanding among the six pilot schools,
also won third place in the 2017 SEAMEO-Japan
Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) Award
as a model for best practices in promoting health and
nutrition across Southeast Asia.

School heads credited S+HGP for increased teamwork

in their schools. They said the systematic approach of
the S+HGP made them more confident to implement
future projects in their schools. The teachers brought
the knowledge and skills from the workshops not only
to their schools but also to their own homes. Some
teachers established their home gardens. Some replaced
their ornamentals with vegetables that their families
enjoy eating.

6
Technical Aspects
The pilot schools were each provided with a mini
greenhouse with rainwater collection system, garden
inputs, and tools. This enabled garden teachers to
produce vegetable seedlings for all grade levels in the
school anytime of the year. This used to be a major
constraint because their practice of direct seeding exposed
the seeds to too much rain, sunlight, or to insect pests.
Capacity building for teachers included training on
garden planning, edible landscaping, organic vegetable
production and pest management, and vermicomposting.
In Alaminos, the pilot school was provided by the LGU
with a vermicomposting shed.
As teachers learned how to prepare cropping calendars,
the sequence of planting specific crops was planned and
timed so they can harvest from the garden throughout
the year. Because of the improved and almost year-round
supply of fresh vegetables, the pilot schools successfully
completed the required 120-day School-Based Feeding
Program. In Labuin, Pila, the school feeding was extended
to 20 more days because vegetables from the school
gardens were still available. The top 10 most produced
crops were mustard, pechay, okra, radish, lettuce, kulitis
(amaranth), papaya, upo, patola, and talinum
(Talinum paniculatum).
Economic/Financial Aspects
The improved supply and quality of fresh vegetables
in school year 2016–2017 had an estimated aggregate
yield of 1,396 kg valued at PHP 42,599.00. Harvests per
school ranged from 87–465 kg depending on garden area
with 19 to 77 percent (aggregate value at PHP 18,376.00)
used for school feeding, 0.5 to 36 percent (about PHP
9,151.00) shared with pupils and parent helpers, 1 to 45
percent (about PHP 6,923.00) sold to other parents and
teachers or cooked in class.
Vegetable production in the school gardens was not
primarily intended for income generation but the school
gardens provided savings and some cash to buy food
ingredients for the feeding program. Schools were also
able to extend the feeding period beyond the targeted
120 feeding days, increase serving size per student or feed
additional pupils not under the feeding program, and
sustain the school-based feeding program even if budget
from DepEd is sometimes delayed. The pilot schools saved
money by using the fresh vegetables or planting materials
as gifts or tokens for guests or as ingredients in the meals
or snacks served during school programs and visitations.
7
 Environmental Aspects
More than just gardening and feeding, the S+HGP was
a venue where pilot school teachers and officers gained
better knowledge of specific and interrelated concepts and
practices about food and nutrition, organic agriculture,
agrobiodiversity, climate change mitigation and adaptation,
and solid waste management, which contribute to the
government’s National Greening Program. These concepts
were purposely integrated in selected sections of the
DepEd basic education curriculum. As a result, 125
lesson plans were prepared for grades 4 and 7 levels of
Science, Mathematics, English, Edukasyong Pantahanan
at Pangkabuhayan (Home Economics), and Technology
and Livelihood Education (TLE) teachers. Topics included
producing organic fertilizer from segregated biodegradable
wastes, and mulching to protect soil from erosion, conserve
soil moisture, control weeds, and increase soil organic
matter for soil carbon build up. The mini-greenhouse
provided by the project was designed with a rainwater
collection system to showcase a simple climate-smart
strategy to adapt to climate change.
Policy-institutional Aspects
The plus in the S+HGP also gives recognition to the
strong and continuing commitment of the LGUs to the
Figure 3. S+HGP Inclusive intra-school and inter-district scaling-up within the province
8
schools and homes by allocating funds for garden
inputs, providing capacity building services, and directly
assigning personnel to assist teachers in maintaining the
school gardens or helping parents establish home gardens.
To complement DepEd’s memo 08-S2007, which
prohibited the sale of junk food inside school premises,
the barangay captain of Labuin accepted the S+HGP plea
to regulate the sale of junk food near school premises.
Also, being the president of the Association of Barangay
Captains of Pila, he elevated to the Sangguniang Bayan
the issuance of Municipal Ordinance 04-T-2017,
preventing shops and vendors near schools from selling
junk food from 6:00 AM to 6:00 PM, while encouraging
the sale of nutritious food instead.
As part of institutional strength and sustainability of the
S+HGP after project exit, a participatory and inclusive
intra-school and inter-district scaling-up strategy was
adopted by the pilot schools (Figure 3).
Through a joint action planning multi-stakeholder workshop among
partners, mechanisms for sustaining and scaling up the initial
success of the S+HGP were designed in a stepwise process, where
each of six pilot schools took the lead to pay forward and share
their knowledge with other schools.

The target within each municipality was that no school shall be left
behind and within the province no municipality shall be left behind.
From the six original pilot schools in 2016, there are now two
additional adopted schools, 23 sister schools, and three
brother schools.

9
 Conclusions

S+HGP enhanced DepEd’s earlier concept of school gardens to become an innovative participatory model for improved
nutrition, education, and economic well-being of school children and their families. The model emphasizes the multi-
functionality of school gardens highlighting links with school children’s families and the communities they live in.
In addition to food production, the school gardens became learning laboratories, where pupils, teachers, and parents
learned about recommended and appropriate technologies and practices relevant to organic vegetable production,
good nutrition, and education. It introduces agriculture to children at an early age, which stimulates their appreciation
for the sector. This action research promoted and resulted in enhanced understanding of sustainability concepts
and interconnections of food and nutrition, organic agriculture, edible landscaping, climate change, and solid waste
management. The key project outcomes, the teachers’ dedication and strong support of school heads, parents, and LGUs
are critical elements to the scaling up and sustainability of school and home gardens. This project is a modest approach
that contribute to addressing the first four Sustainable Development Goals: (1) no poverty, (2) no hunger, (3) good health
and well-being, and (4) quality education.

10
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Suggested Citation:

Calub, B. M., L. S. Africa, B. M. Burgos, H. M. Custodio, S. Chiang, A. G. C. Vallez, E. I. N. E. Galang,

and M. K. R. Punto. 2019. “The School-Plus-Home Gardens Project in the Philippines:
A Participatory and Inclusive Model for Sustainable Development.”SEARCA Policy Paper 2019.
Southeast Asian Regional Center for Graduate Study and Research in Agriculture (SEARCA).
College, Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines.

www.searca.org
January 2019

PRODUCED BY: SEARCA KNOWLEDGE RESOURCES UNIT | EDITED BY: MARILIZA V. TICSAY and MONALINDA B. CADIZ | LAYOUT BY: ZARA MAE C. ESTAREJA